FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEBREVARD COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATIONFriday, April 6, 2012

TUCKER BLASTS TORNADOS TO SPLIT WITH #23 LENOIR-RHYNE

Junior shortstop hits a pair of home runs, drives in four in BC victory

Hickory, N.C. - Brittany Tucker connected on a pair of home runs in leading Brevard to the opening win over #23 Lenoir-Rhyne University, but the Bears used a pair of long balls in the second contest in recording the comeback in an 11 inning victory in the nightcap over the Tornados to earn the split.

Kayla Clemens (12-12) recorded the win in game one for Brevard (19-20, 8-8 SAC), while Dawon Millwood (25-6) went 1-1 on the day, losing the first game, while pitching 7.2 innings in relief to pick up the win in the second game for the Lenoir-Rhyne (38-11, 10-4 SAC). Alyssa Miller (7-8) went the distance in the second game for the Tornados, scattering six hits, while striking out 10 in the loss to the Bears.

Tucker had the game of her short BC career, driving two solo home runs over the left field fence and the junior shortstop added a two-run double in the top of the sixth inning as the Tornados took the first game from the Bears, 5-1.

Brevard opened the scoring in the top of the first as Tucker connected on a solo home run in the top of the first inning, drilling a pitch from Millwood over the left field fence for the first run of the contest. The junior shortstop followed with her second home run of the contest, third of the season, in the top of the third inning, connecting on a two-out offering to increase the lead to 2-0 in the contest.

The Tornados added their third run in the top of the fourth inning as Meredith Davenport reached on a single to right field. A sacrifice bunt by Emily Boykin advanced her to second, before she came around to score on Brittany Fowler’s two-out infield single to put Brevard ahead 3-0 at the midway point in the contest.

Tucker put the game away for Brevard in the top of the sixth inning, driving a two-out, two RBI double into the right centerfield gap, scoring Fowler and Boykin to give Clemens the 5-0 lead on the mound.

Lenoir-Rhyne ended the shutout bid in the bottom half of the inning as Haily Jarman doubled in Tameron Sealey, driving the pitch down the left field line to score Sealey from first to put the score at 5-1heading into the final frame.

The Bears threatened, putting two runners on in the bottom of the seventh as Sarah Atkins and Brittany Coursen reached on singles in the frame, but Clemens retired the final batter, catching a popup off the bat of Brittany Davidson to end the contest in favor of BC.

Brevard plated three runs in the top of the third, but Lenoir-Rhyne battled back, tying the game on Carpenter’s solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, before winning the game in the bottom of the 11th inning on Jarman’s sacrifice fly to earn the split against the Tornados.

Lenoir-Rhyne struck first in the contest as Jessica Fellmeth scored Carpenter on a groundout in the infield in the bottom of the first to give the Bears the early lead.

Brevard rallied back to take the lead in the contest in the top of the third as Brittany Jones tied the game, scoring on a passed ball, while Chelsi Mallory singled in Fowler to put the Tornados ahead. Miller pushed the third BC run across the plate, singling in Mallory to give the Tornados the 3-1 advantage.

L-R took one run back in the bottom half of the frame as Atkins drilled a solo home run, cutting the lead to 3-2. Brevard retained the lead by the same margin until the bottom of the seventh, until Carpenter homered to lead off the frame, knotting the score and sending the game into extra innings.

Lenoir-Rhyne threatened to take the game in the bottom of the tenth, loading the bases with one out, but Miller escaped the jam by striking out the side to end the scoring opportunity. However, Lenoir-Rhyne cashed in the opportunity in the 11th inning as Jarman hit a one-out sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Jody Mizelle from third to end the contest.

Brevard returns home to the BC Softball Field on Wednesday, April 11th, as the Tornados welcome USC Aiken to Brevard College. First pitch in the doubleheader between the Tornados and the Pacers is set for 2 p.m.